Song of Freedom
by Mariette
Summary: SPARTACUS. A short, teaserstyle sequel to the novel or movie Spartacus. Quite short.


Song of Freedom

The story of the son of Spartacus

_This is an exert released to the press from the book. Spartacus was a gladiator in Ancient Rome who held the Romans in fear for four years when he and thousands of other slaves revolted against the Romans and held off the most powerful army in the world. Spartacus was killed, but his wife lived on and gave birth to a son, whom she named Spartacus. A kind Roman senator named Gracchus sent her to Gaul after buying her and freeing her, and she married a man there, having several children with that man. Howard Fast tells us in Spartacus that the Romans came to the village to try and capture the people, but the Spartacus II and his siblings ran into the forest and evaded the Romans just as their father did so many years ago. This is their story – the story of would-be slaves taking their liberty._

* * *

Spartacus walked through the Gaulish forest; bow in hand, arrows on his back. He knew he had to find food before he returned to camp, but it would not be a simple matter. The smell of Rome was everywhere these days, and it had frightened all the game away. The man allowed himself a brief moment of painful memories – the march of the Romans towards their small village, the burning of the houses, the slaughter of his German mother Varinia. Then he forced himself onward – he and his siblings and close friends were on their own now, and if he didn't bring in food, they would starve.

Suddenly Spartacus stopped, every muscle in his tall, lithe body quivering like that of a hunting dog. There in front of him was a fawn. He tried to draw his arrow silently. He could not lose this meat. The arrow flew mercifully straight and killed the fawn on the first hit. It keeled over, almost in slow motion. Spartacus pulled out the arrow and put the deer on his dark shoulders. For all his worrying, they would eat well tonight.

The camp was a flurry of activity when Spartacus arrived, but everyone stopped and crowded around him, congratulating him and praising his hunting skills. He handed the deer to Varinia, his eldest sister, and she took it with care. The skin was still good, and could be used to make belts and quivers. Though they had been in the woods only a week, and they had no children or elderly with them, they knew they would need clothing and new weapons soon. Spartacus went over to where his best friend Marius stood.  
"Is all well my friend?" Spartacus asked. His friend looked back at him carefully. Spartacus was a strong man, and always had been, even when they were boys. He was a handsome man as well – he resembled his father most; black hair, tan body, but his face belonged to his mother. His blue eyes were German – a Thracian born with blue eyes would have been killed in all likelihood. Marius was full Gaul, perhaps with a bit of Roman blood in him – these days one could never tell.

"I do not know, Spartacus," replied Marius at long last. "Where do you mean? The Romans sleep soundly tonight. The slaves of the world do to, most likely. But we will not. Not tonight. For every night we may be murdered in our sleep."

Spartacus thought on this. "But it was this way before, even when we were innocent children we were the playthings of the Roman empire. But now we will be men in the ways of the old tribe. No longer will we look up with admiration on the soldiers of the Roman empire."

"Hopefully we shall see no soldiers of the Roman empire," cut in Gracchus, Spartacus's youngest brother (named after the senator that made their mother's freedom possible), humorously.

"Indeed," said Spartacus, a smile on his face. "But these woods shall serve us well, I think. As long as we do not stray too far towards the border of the woods, we shall remain hidden. The Romans fear the woods."

"But if their commanders order them too, they will enter the woods. We should move away," insisted Marius.

"We shall discuss it at the meeting tonight," answered Spartacus with finality.

And discuss it they did. It was a curious thing to watch, this debate of the tribe. As was the way of the old tribes, everyone had their say, including the women. The men knew that they had to respect their women, for it was they who knew the secrets of cooking and curing hide. They argued for hours on if they should remain so close to the woods, or move away from Rome and travel onward to somewhere the Roman arm was not so strong. But in the end, the mutual consensus was to move over the mountain, where no Romans had been sighted.

"I urge everyone to stay away from the border of the woods. The Romans are still camped next to them, and we must be careful to keep a distance and avoid being sighted," said Spartacus. "The day after tomorrow we will leave to go over the mountain." And so began the founding of a new tribe. In their hearts they longed for peace, but in their heart of hearts, they wanted to defeat the Romans – which meant war.

**From Mariette:** So, what thinketh you? I originally wrote this for a school assignment, and it had to be no longer than two pages, which would explain the shortness. Do you want more? I just left it at this . . . Reviewing is the only way for me to get your input!

**Disclaimer**: I worship Howard Fast. He had the bravery to publish this during the McArthy Trials, even though he was black-listed for being Communist. Do you think I would rip him off? HA!


End file.
